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Art | Churches in Rome: Santa Costanza

Beyond the Pantheon and the Mausoleum of Hadrian (better known as Castel Sant’Angelo), there are only two round churches in Rome: Santo Stefano Rotondo and Santa Costanza .

Costantina, aka Costanza, was the daughter of the Emperor Costantino I, sister of the Emperors Costantino II, Costanzo II and Costante I and member of a family, the costantiniana dinasty, not particularly creative with the names.

After two marriages and a miraculous intervention by Saint Agnes who saved her from certain death, Costanza became a Saint for the Catholic Churc.

The mausoleum was built between the 340 and the 345 under request of Costanza, next to the cemeterial basilica of Saint Agnes.

The building reflects the architectural chaos lying behind the transition from the paganism to the Christianity. Rome used to persecute Christians until a few years before. And now the city was opening its doors to the religious new wave which was attracting even the Emperor, who convert to Christianism, launching a new trend which was going to become an evergreen.

The Mausoleum has a circular centralized structure has a pagan temple. 12 columns support the central cupola. 12 windows radiate the area of a soft light. The light changes in the vaults and in the niches of the corridor (ambulatory). The mystical atmosphere let us dreaming about ancient legends, nymphs and a semi-divine nature as the Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. The decorations on the vaults and the niches revoke paganism, alternating geometric and naturalistic drawings, and introducing at the same time the new Christian iconography. Between scenes of harvest and biblical suggestions, the mausoleum has confused its visitors for two thousand years (even called the Temple of Bacchus during the Renaissance) and attracted the attention of taggers of every era who left their vandalistic mark. If my ethic and my sense of respect for our cultural heritage weren’t too strong, I wouldn’t be able to resist to etch my “Federica 2016” tag on the wall in the hope that in two thousand years someone would be still able to read it.